The Little Girl, the Shaky Old Man, and More!

It is five in the afternoon, raining, and I am on drive-thru at Royalty Burger. At every order I ask “how’s the rain treating you?” and virtually everyone who has lived here for an extended period of time answered. However, a few people seemed unamused with the rain, which we had not gotten enough of in a long time. I would often ask if they were from some other part of the United States and they would respond with a rainy state of origin.

It is now 6:30pm and I am helping clean up and stock the lobby. A blond little girl, probably 5 or 6 years old, walked up to the drink station and was trying to get a refill. She could not reach it. I asked if she would like me to help and she responded “yes”. While I had expected to take the container and refill it myself she wanted to “do it too”, so I guided her hand to the ice and then to her desired drink. It was pretty cute, especially when she ran off with her drink, stopped as if she had forgotten something, and then turned to say “thank you”.

My headset went off to let me know a customer was at the drive-thru and I respond in my usual greeting. It is apparent that I have a cranky customer, which is not uncommon, but is always annoying. This person in particular seemed to be on a mission to put me in a foul mood. I quickly turned on the “bright and shiny” fake smile and proceeded to cash him out. He was an elderly man with a scruffy beard, worn clothes, and slender body.

Not long after Old’n Cranky came Mr. Shaky hands. He is a regular customer and everyone is always worried that he’ll drop either his food or the money. I imagine he has a medical condition because Mr. Shaky is considerably shaky. After he left I told my manager whenever I serve him I feel like I should escort him home because it seems dangerous for him to be driving. She responded with a chuckle and returned to her work.

It is about 9:30pm and the rain started picking up again. This is annoying when on drive-thru because the sensor picks up what I call “invisible customers”, which is just the rain tripping the sensors.

It is 9:45pm and we have a large group of teenagers walk in, which is kind of bothersome because the lobby closes at 10pm and we have to re-clean. For the most part they seem to be enjoying themselves, I say this because they are being really rowdy with each other and overly friendly with the female cashier.